Egypt withstand brave Madagascar resistance to earn final spot, qualify for U19 World Cup

 

ANTSIRABE (Madagascar) - Egypt put together an impressive second-half performance against hosts Madagascar to book their place in Saturday's the final of the 2022 FIBA  U18 Women's African Championship.

Jana Elalfy's exceptional 34 point and 10 rebounds  performance helped to put away hosts  93-63.

The hosts will take heart from their display as they entertained their fans by being competitive for the first two quarters of the game. 

Forward Kristina Rakotobe's 22 points and star player Marion Rasolofoson 19 points, gave fans inside the Gymnase Couvert D'Antsirabe something to cheer about, while for Egypt, Elalfy was supported by front court partner Jana Sallman, who had 21 points and 11 rebounds. 

The home side were the quickest to settle with a three-pointer from Chamirah Rahiritiana early in the game and Rakotobe, who had four points in earlier made it 5-1. The Egyptians would not be outdone as Sallman's two-pointer and a Radwan jump shot tied the game for the North Africans.

Madagascar, with seven minutes left, went on a 9-point run with Rasolofoson and Rakotobe contributing  five points each to the home team's 21-11 lead. 

The Egyptians also showed their experience as they answered with a 10-point run of their own to tie the game. The encounter showed the depth of the Egyptian squad, that had seven different scores  to three of Madagascar. 

Forward Elalfy finished the first quarter with 11 points as Egypt came back from 10 points to lead the game 26-21.

Elalfy  added five more points to her total in the second quarter, as Egypt tried to pull away 34-28, but Madagascar did not let them get away. 

Ramahatra's three pointer helped the Malagasy close and another by Rakotobe helped Madagascar gain the lead 35-34.

The game would be tied once (37-37 )  and see three lead changes in a hotly contested quarter which the Malagasy would lead 43-41 in the end.  

The Egyptians broke away in the third quarter with Elalfy posting another 11 points, which included a three-pointer as they finished the third quarter up 70-57. 

Rosolofoson and Rakotobe did try and keep the Malagasy in the game with three pointers but Egypt's class had came to the fore.

The fourth quarter saw the Malagasy run out the energy that saw them make them competitive as Egypt scored with ease and went an 8-0 run.

A Rosolofoson three-pointer, was all Madagascar could manage three minutes into the quarter. In the end Egypt had the experience and talent and sailed away with a 32 point victory.

Egyptian Mostafa Hadhood was complimentary of his player performance and also of the hosts.

"I would like to congratulate the players and the backroom staff. For the players, it was the first time they played under this kind of pressure. As I said yesterday (Wednesday) I did not want to play against Madagascar. They are a much younger team, " said Hadhood. "I respect the Madagascar team they have a bright future. We new it would be tough, but I knew we would win in the end because we have more experience at this level of competition." 

By reaching the final of the 2022 FIBA U18 Women's African Championship, Egypt qualified for the 2023 FIBA U19 Women's Basketball World Cup.

FIBA